Saturday 16th April 2016 (b)

BUBO in POLAND  -  part 4

Big skies at Siemianowka Reservoir.

We continued our exploration of Siemianowka Reservoir by driving right round to the north-east corner of the lake. It had to be the long way round as there's not a road up the western side, as it is too close to the border. On the way, we drove through a village where we saw two Serins fly up from a puddle at the side of the road. Eventually we drove as far as we could and climbed a railway embankment. From here the reedbeds seemed even more extensive.

The marshes and reedbeds from the northeastern side of Siemianowka Reservoir

From our viewpoint we could see a few White-tailed Eagles flapping between perches - a lot closer this time, and we heard Bitterns booming from the reeds. We also briefly heard the call of a Spotted Crake from the wooded marsh behind us but there was no chance of seeing it. We had a few Cranes flying round including two very close birds flapping over our heads. The sun was out and it became rather hot, and there were harriers and storks circling in the warmth. It was just a great place to hang out and soak it all in.

Cranes - Siemianowka Reservoir

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A distant White-tailed Eagle looks out across the marshes from its viewpoint.

In the birch trees alongside the bank we could see an old Penduline Tit nest hanging from a branch. It clearly was not occupied, so I thought I'd take a wander further down to see if I could find any more nests. Pretty soon I saw a male Penduline Tit fly out from a waterside willow and go further down the bank. I kept getting brief sightings as it went back and forth and I eventually saw where it was going to - it was building a new nest. I had only seen the species once before in Israel and this is definitely one of my favourite bird species, with its unusual colouration. So it was great to have such smashing views as it gradually weaved its nest together. Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough to focus the camera on the bird properly as it whizzed about.

The bank alongside the reservoir with the trees that the Penduline Tit was nesting in.

An old completed Penduline Tit nest.

Penduline Tit - Siemianowka Reservoir

Penduline Tit weaving its nest.

The railway with two guages of track - one european-sized going into Belarus, the other russian-sized coming into Poland. The distant trees are in Belarus. 

We drove down the track leading towards the open water but we didn't really see anything new here apart from a Common Gull passing overhead. So we headed round to another part of the northern side of the reservoir. Here it was more open and less 'reedy' and was much better for waders. We saw plenty more Ruff and a few more Black-tailed Godwits, along with Redshanks, Snipe, a Whimbrel and two Wood Sandpipers. On the open ground behind this area we had a Yellow Wagtail over plus a singing Woodlark. We also had a small number of Whooper Swans on the water's edge and our best views so far of a young White-tailed Eagle. A great birding spot.

White-tailed Eagle - Siemianowka Reservoir

We made our way back to Bialowieza in the mid-afternoon and we returned to the guest house for a rest and to make plans for some evening birding. We had some discussion with Bogdan about potentially visiting a Great Snipe site but it wasn't too close, it was probably too wet for our non-wellies and they might not even have got back yet from Africa. So we scrubbed that idea, thanked Bogdan for all his help and bid him farewell.

BUBO and Bogdan. If anyone is intending going birding in eastern Poland and wanted to hire a guide for the day, then I recommend Bogdan, as we saw everything that we wanted to. Get in touch and we can pass on details.

We still had a couple of hours of light left to get some birding in, so we were going to use more of Bogdan's gen to try somewhere else nearby. Unfortunately, I was unable to go out straight away due to some "intestinal difficulties", so the guys left me to sort myself out in the hotel room whilst they drove off to investigate a couple of likely spots. Finally, I was satisfied that I was able to get back out in the field safely, and I wandered down a track to the marshes just below the guest house where the boys had just had a Savi's Warbler singing. It was still being very vocal when I got there and managed to record a little of its song.

Meeting up with Andy and Ian again, we headed to an area round a bridge, just on the east side of town which was very good for White-backed Woodpecker, where hopefully we would get seconds with this rare species. Here was a break in the forest where a reed-fringed Narewka River slowly flowed east out of Belarus, which was about a mile away. We quickly saw a Great Grey Shrike at the top of a tree and were temporarily confused by its strange, surprising song. 

There were lots of viewing platforms such as this in Poland - many for wildlife watching, but I suppose many also for hunters perhaps. 

We wandered up and down the roadside listening for woodpeckers and we heard a few Great Spotteds. Then all of a sudden, as they tend to do, a woodpecker flew in to the exact tree that Bogdan had suggested that we may see White-backed on. It was quite dusky by now but we got great views in the scope as the White-backed Woodpecker made its way to the top of the tree. We saw it a few times and we noted that it also liked to feed very low down on the trees by the waterside, so low that it was often hidden by the reeds. The species clearly loves to be near water.

White-backed Woodpecker - Bialowieza Forest

I wandered across the bridge towards the town and found another woodpecker drumming very close to the roadside. I managed to sneak up very close to it so it was drumming in the tree right next to me but the bloney bird seemed invisible! I recorded the drumming on my phone and Andy explained to me that with Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, the drumming finishes suddenly, unlike Great Spot where it tails off slightly. Always learning! I did eventually see the Lesser Spot but only very briefly. 

Also in this area, I saw by a small creek, the stump of a tree that had been hacked down. Looking closely at it, you could even see the teeth marks from the Beavers that had gnawed the wood. Exploring this area, you could see lots of mounds of trees in the water and pools formed behind small dams and exit points that the beavers use to get in and out of the water. So lots of signs, but unfortunately no Beavers themselves.

Here be Beavers! 

Beaver lodge in the reeds.

It was now quite dark and we headed back to the guest house for some r and r. We were just settling down to enjoy some dinner when Ian rushes into the restaurant saying that he thinks we've been robbed! His coat was missing from the room with his wallet and passport in the pockets. Bloody Hell! It was all a bit odd - why steal a coat? I'm not going to go into all the madcap details of our investigation, but we were just about to call the police when we found Bogdan's coat in the car boot! He must have accidentally taken Ian's coat home with him instead of his own. We eventually managed to get hold of him on the phone and confirm that he did indeed have the coat and vital contents, and we arranged to collect it tomorrow. Phew, what a relief! That would have slightly put a dampener on the whole trip.

So after we had a meal and beers to calm ourselves down, we went for a wander along the boardwalk through the marshes by the town in the dark. There were hundreds of Tree Frogs calling from the trees across the way and the Savi's Warbler was still reeling away. We briefly heard a calling Spotted Crake and had superb torchlight views of a bat feeding back and forth right in front of us, up and down the river - very probably a Daubenton's Bat. We returned to bed after a terrific but ultimately traumatic day!

Saturday 16th April 2016 (a)

BUBO in POLAND  -  part 3

BUBO leave the forests and find masses of waterbirds.

Despite our busy day yesterday, we set our alarms and were up at first light so as to not waste any time. I can't say it was easy to drag ourselves up but we managed it OK for some local pre-breakfast birding. As we had no desperate targets now, after our well-deserved success the day before, we asked Bogdan to take us to some locations for great general birding. We couldn't go far from the guest house or we'd have missed breakfast - literally a crime - so we decided to try the town park on the edge of the village. 

Bialowieza Town Park gates.

The weather was very dull and cloudy in the post-dawn hours and I found it very difficult to take any photos. The Park contained various buildings and these were surrounded by very large trees and there were many woodland species on show. The trees though were not as dense as in the main forest and viewing was pretty good. We saw plenty of Hawfinches and Jays, plus single Treecreeper and Nuthatch. A big surprise for me, as I wasn't expecting them at all, assuming they'd already be back up north, was a flock of c.30 Waxwing calling and flying around the tops of the tallest trees.

Birding in the gloom in Bialowieza Town Park.

As we reached a cleared grass area, we had a Grey-headed Woodpecker fly across and into the trees, where we also saw a second bird. Not as good views as the previous day though. We saw a couple of Marsh Tits really close and there were a few Wood Warblers singing. We were hoping for perhaps an early Collared Flycatcher as this is apparently a really good spot for them but it did not feel at all summery. Fieldfares were plentiful and we heard lots of Great Spotted Woodpeckers drumming. The lads also picked out a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker drumming also but we couldn't really see it high up in the trees above the path.

The marshes along the south side of Bialowieza town.

We left the park after some great birding and scanned from the bridge over the marshes alongside the River Narewka on the south side of the town. Here we saw a Black Stork distantly feeding in these extensive wet areas. We had our first really good look at a White Stork nest on the building just next door. It has long been traditional for the people of Poland to encourage the storks to nest in their villages by putting up special platforms on roofs and on telegraph poles. This species is thought of as the main harbinger of spring here, and so Polish folklore associates the species with good fortune, heralding the end of a harsh winter. This custom has protected the White Storks in Poland and so they are more common here than anywhere else - you see them everywhere. There was also a family of Tree Sparrows nesting in the storks' nest, which is apparently very typical.

One of the many, many White Storks nests, this one on a building on the edge of Bialowieza town.

Orthodox Church in Bialowieza, one of the least ostentatious ones we saw.

Our stomach called us for breakfast and we wandered down the road back towards the guest house for an excellent feast. These breakfasts were much better for me than the evening meals with lots of bread and cheese and eggs to scoff, all laid out for us as a nice spread, with a cup of tea - superb. We loaded up our stomachs, then loaded up the car, and headed north out of the town, seeing a male Redstart by the guest house.

Within a minute of leaving the town, along the edge of some marshy woodland, I spotted a brown blob in a tree which looked like a rather large bird of prey. We jumped out and managed to 'scope up a brilliant Lesser Spotted Eagle perched up. I clearly hadn't read up enough on Poland's birds as I thought that these would be no way near back from Africa yet - but here it was! A great surprise. It sat there for a while before we clearly became a little tiresome for it, and it took off and flapped around the clearing a bit before disappearing.

Lesser Spotted Eagle - near Bialowieza town

The sun came out quickly and we carried on north through the forest, calling at a clearing that we had visited the day before as it was a good spot for flycatchers. We didn't see one but we did have decent views of another Lesser Spotted Woodpecker feeding at the top of a huge tree.

We carried on travelling northwards until we finally left Bialowieza Forest behind and headed into more open terrain of villages and farms, although with lots of patches of woodlands interspersed. As we drove through the outskirts of a village called Narewka, we casually glanced out of the car window and saw three massive lumps in a field. They couldn't be could they? But, yes they were! Three giant Bison just strolling around behind a barn on the edge of a grassy field!

European Bison - just north of bialowieza forest.

We were quite incredulous at this sighting. We have been told that Bison, despite their size, were very difficult to find, and that plenty of people have been to Bialowieza and not seen any. And also because we went out at first light yesterday Bison-hunting and only luckily saw one shy, and half-hidden in the depths of the forest. Yet, here were three, out in the bright sunlight, mid-morning, just chomping on grass near the roadside as if they were cows.

We got out of the car and didn't really need to set the 'scopes up, as they were so gigantic. I don't know why, but I had a massive urge to run up and rugby tackle one! A tour bus pulled up next to us, also spying the beasts, and the local in the house next-door beckoned us into his field and we all managed to get pretty close in the end. It was quite overwhelming and we felt very privileged having such good views of such a rare animal.  

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Three magnificent and rare hunks of beef........and three bison in the background.

The trees in Poland were covered in clumps of Mistletoe, a rare sight in the UK nowadays.

Our destination today was the very large Siemianowka Reservoir - about 10 x 5 km - which is directly north of Bialowieza Forest and almost on the Belarus border. We first parked up at the south-eastern corner of the lake and the sun was shining beautifully as we climbed the bank. We were quite surprised when we reached the top and looked out, as this was not what we'd usually think of as a 'reservoir'. It looked more like a nature reserve. There were acres and acres of reedbed, stretching as far as you could see, with open water between them, and it was surrounded on most sides by woodland and fields. And there were birds too!

Birding the southern bank of Siemianowka Reservoir.

Siemianowka Reservoir is half-covered in reedbeds and full of birds. The most distant trees here are probably in Belarus.

The waterbirds from this viewpoint included flocks of duck in the open water - Gadwalls, Wigeon, Shoveler, Pintail, Teal and about 20 Garganey - as well as a few Great Crested Grebes and Cormorants. A handful of gulls flew around including presumed Caspian Gulls (yuk!). A flock of c.40 Great White Egrets rested distantly in the reeds and there were always flocks of Ruff flying around, easily the most common wader we saw in Poland. But the highlight of this stop were the eagles! We saw at least three White-tailed Eagles flying lazily around the far side and landing on tree snags - a pity they weren't closer. We then picked up a 'spotted' eagle circling high above us and, although we initially presumed it was Lesser again, when we studied it, we realised that it was actually a Greater Spotted Eagle. It had broader wings and darker plumage and a shorter tail. A Lesser Spotted Eagle then appeared in the same sky and showed us the differences. Three species of eagle from just one spot and all more or less at the same time - superb!

GREATER Spotted Eagle, Siemanowka Reservoir.

The small birds alongside the reservoir bank included the first Willow and Sedge Warblers of the trip, presumably a Blue-headed Wagtail flying around, and another white-headed Long-tailed Tit. Whilst we stood there we noticed that there was a little bit of passage going on overhead, with small groups of the common finches all moving in a northeasterly direction into Belarus. In amongst these we picked out about 10 Crossbills heading out, but what was more unusual for us were the number of Jays. We've always heard about these large movements of Jays that can occur in Europe but we don't really get this in the UK. Here there were regular small groups of up to 20 birds per flock passing over us heading towards the Belarussian border.

Another weird thing we had here - and later in many wetland areas of Poland - was the constant calls of Fire-bellied Toads from the waters edge. A really odd sound and they literally never ever stopped! I managed to get a recording on my phone which you can hear below.

At about lunchtime, we got back into the car and drove round the western edge of the Reservoir to visit its northern bank, where we saw some different species.